ADDRESS 


DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE 


-  *  _■ 

ffliXftltmv  jUecljauit  ^aaotCatton 

:-rr 

"  « 


AT  THEIR  ANNIVERSARY, 


OCTOBER  4,  1827. 


**h  ft#®*- 

BY  ITHAMAR  A.  BEARD. 


LOWELL  : 

PRINTED  AT  THE  JOURNAL  OFFICE. 


1827. 


LOWELL ,  October  8,  1827. 


Sir — The  Government  of  the  Middlesex  Mechanic  Association 
have  instructed  us  to  tender  you  their  thanks,  for  the  Address  deliver¬ 
ed  by  you  before  them,  on  the  evening  of  their  Anniversary  ;  and  to 
request  you  to  favor  them  with  a  copy  of  the  same  for  the  press. 

Respectfully  yours, 


ABNER  BALL, 
BRICE  SHEPHERD, 


Committee, 


Mr  Ithamar  A.  Beard. 


Gentlemen — My  lack  of  time,  talents,  and  experience,  must 
plead  an  excuse  for  my  reluctance  in  appearing  before  the  public,  anti 
for  the  want  of  merit  in  the  enclosed  Address  ;  yet  trusting  to  the 
candor  of  an  ingenuous  public,  in  compliance  with  your  polite  request , 
I  forward  you  a  copy  for  the  press. 

Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 

ITHAMAR  A.  BEARD. 

31es?rs.  Abner  Ball,  )  Committee  of  ilie  Govern. 

Brice  Shepherd,  $  of  the  Mid.  Mech.  Assoc. 


LOWELL ,  October  9,  1S27. 


iJhU4^  Z  6? 


3  3/-  091 
f3  3  <fe_ 


FELLOW  CITIZENS  AND  ASSOCIATES 


ft 


■  r 


I  am,  this  evening,  called  to  the  performance  of  si 
duty,  which  to  me  is  entirely  new,  and  which,  till  within  a 
few  days,  I  had  the  hope  and  expectation,  would  be  per¬ 
formed  by  one,  whose  education  and  abilities  would  enable 
him  to  give  you  such  an  address  as  I  am  incompetent  to 
give.  Having  never  been  accustomed  to  speaking  in  public, 
I  have,  therefore,  greater  reason  to  claim  your  candid  for- 
'  .v  bearance  to  criticise,  than  one  whose  profession  calls  him 
frequently  to  speak  in  public.  Amidst  the  hurry  of  business, 
i  I  have  been  obliged  to  indite  a  sentence  at  a  time,  as  I  could 
1  steal  a  moment  from  its  imperious  calls,  or  from  the  usual 
hours  of  sleep.  My  education  being  but  the  gleanings  of  the 
^harvest,  with  hardly  so  much  as  the  privilege  granted  to 
j  Ruth,  of  gleaning  among  the  sheaves,  and  of  gathering  hand¬ 
fuls  intentionally  dropped,  will,  1  trust,  be  an  ample  excuse 
from  attempting  to  give  you  a  dissertation  on  some  one  or 
more  of  the  Mechanical  Arts.  That,  I  doubt  not,  would  be 
highly  pleasing  and  instructive,  if  ably  performed.  But  a 
want  of  ability  to  do  it  in  a  masterly  style,  and  the  anticipa¬ 
tion  of  that  pleasure,  from  the  performance  of  one  amply 
qualified  to  do  justice  to  whatever  subject  he  undertakes, 
will,  for  me,  be  a  sufficient  excuse  for  not  attempting  it. 
From  such  as  I  have  hastily  prepared,  I  will  make  an  essay, 
briefly  to  treat  you  with  a  few  plain  truths.  I  shall  endeav¬ 
our  to  enter  into  the  every  day  business  of  our  lives;  to  point 
f  out  some  of  the  greatest  causes  of  mischief  and  misery  in 
%  society,  and  some  of  the  greatest  sources  of  real  pleasure 


v* 


and  happiness. 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
AT  URBANA -CHAMPAIGN 


* 


>  4 

Man  is  a  being  formed  and  designed  for  society  :  To  de¬ 
prive  him  of  this,  is  to  deprive  him  of  his  greatest  source  of 
happiness,  and  to  render  him  a  solitary,  disconsolate,  mis¬ 
erable  being.  Society  being  admitted  the  proper  sphere  of 
man,  it  next  devolves  upon  us  to  prescribe  such  rules  for  the 
proper  regulation  of  it,  as  will  be  most  conducive  to  mutual 
felicity.  This  will  be  attempted  by  pointing  out  the  evils  to 
be  avoided,  and  the  duties  to  be  performed  by  its  members 
towards  each  other. 

Some  of  the  most  prominent  evils  in  society,  are,  intem¬ 
perance,  slander,  an  uncharitable  disposition,  a  want  of 
proper  subserviency  in  subordinate  stations,  and  an  overbear¬ 
ing  contumely  in  exalted  ones. 

In  treating  the  subject,  I  shall  endeavour  to  avoid  person¬ 
ality  ;  and,  if  in  drawing  the  picture  of  some  of  the  evils  of 
human  life,  I  should,  by  chance,  paint  a  real  likeness,  I  must 
beg  of  you  to  believe  me  sincere,  when  I  assure  you  that  I 
do  not  intend  a  single  sentence  shall  be,  in  any  manner  point¬ 
ed  at  any  particular  person,  but  only  at  certain  characters, 
and  pernicious  habits. 

Intemperate  drinking  is  an  evil,  which  has,  for  some  years 
past,  been  progressing  with  rapid  strides,  pervading  every 
society  ;  the  rich  and  the  poor — the  young  and  the  old — the 
ignorant  and  the  learned — the  wise  and  the  simple,  of  both 
sexes,  have  each  had  a  full  representation  in  the  high  court 
of  Bacchus.  My  friends,  is  it  not  a  shame  ?  a  disgrace  ?  an 
indelible  stain  on  the  character  of  the  noblest  part  of  this 
lower  creation,  the  only  being  made  in  the  image  of  his 
Creator,  that,  for  the  sake  of  gratifying  the  insatiable  crav¬ 
ings  of  an  appetite,  not  originally  planted  in  the  breast  of 
man,  but  created  by  indulgence,  he  should  degrade  himself 
far  below  the  rank  of  the  brute  creation  ?  The  Almighty 
planted  in  the  breast  of  man  inclinations  and  appetites, 
which,  if  kept  within  the  bounds  of  reason,  would  ever  be 
conducive  to  his  happiness.  It  is  not  of  the  nature  that  was 
given  us  that  we  ought  to  complain.  It  is  our  second  nature  ; 
created  by  indulgence  in  unwarrantable  habits,  that  causes 
the  evil  of  which  all  complain,  but,  (I  am  sorry  to  say,)  not 
from  which  all  refrain. 

How  many,  and  even  times  untold,  have  each  of  us  seen 
man  deprived  of  his  noblest  faculties,  by  the  intoxicating 
fumes  of  spirituous  liquors,  and  rendered  a  ridiculous,  a  des¬ 
picable  creature  !  How  many  families  have  we  seen  reduced 
to  poverty  and  all  its  attendant  evils  by  intemperance  !  Have 


you  never  seen  a  flourishing  family,  the  boast  and  pride  of 
the  society  in  which  they  lived,  ruined,  and  worse  than 
ruined,  by  the  intemperate  use  of  distilled  spirit  ?  What  a 
curse  upon  man  that  it  was  ever  invented  !  Have  you  never 
seen  the  thorns  and  briers  growing  under  the  hedges  ?  the 
fences  down  ?  the  cattle  in  the  fields  ?  the  glass  broken  out 
of  the  windows  ?  the  doors  off  of  the  hinges  ?  the  children 
half  naked  and  half  covered  with  rags  ?  the  once  tender  and 
affectionate  wife  a  mere  maniac  ?  These  are  the  possessions, 
and  these  the  family  of  him  who  has  given  himself  over  to 
drunkenness.  Look  a  little  further — His  estate  is  mort¬ 
gaged  and  gone  !  His  effects  are  sold  under  the  hammer  ! 
And  the  miserable  man  is  dragged  to  prison,  as  the  last  al¬ 
ternative  to  satisfy  his  creditors  !  The  wife  and  the  children 
are  seen  dragging  out  a  weary  life  in  the  almshouse  !  And, 
eventually,  the  poor,  thrice  miserable  being  is  borne  an  early 
victim  to  the  grave  ! 

My  friends,  this  is  not  an  exaggeration  ;  it  is  a  mortifying 
truth.  Yet,  with  this  horrid  scene  daily  before  their  eyes, 
men  will  follow  on  after  the  alluring  bait  !  will  indulge  !  will 
dissipate  !  until  they  are  gone — gone  beyond  a  remedy  !  I 
repeat  it  ;  I  aim  not  at  the  person  of  any  ;  I  wish  not  to 
injure  the  feelings  of  any  ;  yet  I  cannot  refrain  from  aiming 
a  blow — I  would  to  God  it  were  a  deadly  blow — at  a  vice,  a. 
habit,  which,  if  not  timely  stopped  in  its  fatal  career,  will 
depopulate  this  fair  part  of  creation  !  It  becomes  the  duty  of 
every  man,  who  has  in  him  one  spark  of  philanthropy,  to  set 
his  face  wholly  against  this  growing  evil  ! 

I  have  brought  forward  this  subject,  not  because  the 
members  of  this  society,  or  the  inhabitants  of  this  place  are 
more  addicted  to  intemperance,  than  in  other  places  ;  for  I 
really  and  truly  think  them  more  temperate,  more  indus¬ 
trious,  than  in  towns  generally.  It  is  for  this  very  reason 
that  the  subject  is  introduced, — that  we  may  avoid  the  evil 
that  has  been  so  destructive  to  the  peace,  the  prosperity, 
and  the  social  happiness  of  other  places.  Much  has  been 
done,  within  a  short  time,  to  remedy  the  evil.  And  we  sin¬ 
cerely  hope  that  every  effort  to  suppress  intemperance  will 
prosper,  until  wre,  as  a  country,  shall  be  reclaimed,  and  re¬ 
stored  to  the  happy  condition  of  our  predecessors. 

Among  the  many  evils  of  life,  slander  holds  a  high  rank. 
Slander  is  a  demon  of  the  blackest  hue.  Many  are  its  ways 
of  insinuating  its  poison  into  society  ;  and  it  is  productive  of 
more  evil  than  pestilence  or  famine.  Few  characters  are 


6 


more  despicable,  or  ought  more  to  be  shunned  than  that  of 
the  slanderer.  Under  his  tongue  is  the  poison  of  asps,  and 
from  his  lips  proceed  lies  and  bitterness.  He  sows  discord 
among  brethren,  and  spreads  dissention  far  and  wide.  The 
honest,  the  upright,  and  the  virtuous,  escape  not  the  lash  of 
his  tongue,  any  more  than  those  of  an  opposite  character. 
His  meat  is  to  disseminate  mischief,  to  disturb  and  destroy 
the  peace  of  society.  The  habitual  slanderer  has  at  his 
tongue’s  end  a  slant  for  every  one.  Nor  is  it  sufficient  that 
he  uses  his  tongue  to  that  effect  ;  he  likewise  slanders  with 
grimaces,  with  a  wink  of  the  eye,  with  a  nod  of  the  head, 
with  a  shrug  of  the  shoulders,  and  even  by  pointing  with  his 
fingers.  Slander  consists  not  entirely  in  a  false  representa¬ 
tion  of  a  person’s  character  in  so  many  words  ;  but  it  like¬ 
wise  shows  itself  in  all  the  innuendoes,  the  sneers,  the  scoffs, 
and  the  jeers  to  which  the  slanderer  is  accustomed.  Direct 
and  positive  lying  wrorks  not  half  the  mischief  in  society  that 
is  wrought  by  the  doings  of  the  dealer  in  scandal.  When 
you  accidentally  fall  in  company  with  a  person  of  this  char¬ 
acter,  who  will  not  let  one  pass  without  some  disgusting  re¬ 
mark  on  his  person,  his  dress,  or  his  manners,  set  him  down 
as  a  dangerous  member  of  society,  and  avoid  his  company  as 
you  would  a  contagious  disease,  or  an  animal  infected  with 
hydrophobia.  I  close  this  part  of  the  subject  with  a  quota¬ 
tion  from  Shakespeare  : — 

“  Good  name,  in  man,  or  woman, 

Is  the  immediate  jewel  of  their  souls  ; 

Who  steals  my  purse,  steals  trash  ;  5tis  something — nothing  ; 
’Tivas  mine,  ’tis  his,  and  has  been  slave  to  thousands  ; 

But  he,  that  filches  from  me  my  good  name, 

Robs  me  of  that,  which  not  enriches  him, 

And  makes  me  poor  indeed.” 

The  exercise  of  an  uncharitable  disposition,  or  rather  the 
habit  of  thinking  and  speaking  uncharitably  of  others,  holds 
a  conspicuous  situation  in  the  train  of  human  evils.  W  hether 
it  arise  from  envy  or  from  any  other  cause,  it  is  equally 
detrimental  to  the  peace  and  good  feelings  of  man  towards 
his  fellows.  The  constant  and  habitual  exercise  of  an  un¬ 
charitable  mind,  produces  coldness  between  those  who  would 
otherwise  befriends;  alienates  the  tender  affections  of  the 
heart  ;  breeds  strife  in  society,  and  renders  it  more  like  a 
society  of  ferocious  beasts,  than  of  civilized  rational  beings. 
To  the  uncharitable  person  nothing  is  right  that  does  not 


7 


exactly  conform  to  his  views  ;  nothing  beautiful  that  does 
not  strike  the  fancy  of  his  whimsical  eye  ;  nothing  good  that 
does  not  conform  to  his  notions  of  right  and  wrong.  Heaven 
itself,  to  such  a  mind  would  not  prove  a  state  of  happiness,  if 
it  should  deviate  from  his  pre-conceptions  of  it. 

Charity  is  the  brightest  ornament  of  the  mind,  the  purest 
sentiment  of  the  breast.  Wisely  spake  the  Apostle,  when 
he  said  ;  “  Though  I  speak  with  the  tongues  of  men  and  of 
angels,  and  have  not  charity,  I  am  become  as  sounding  brass, 
or  a  tinkling  cymbal.  And  though  I  have  the  gift  of  proph¬ 
ecy,  and  understand  all  mysteries,  and  all  knowledge  ;  and 
though  I  have  all  faith,  so  that  I  could  remove  mountains, 
and  have  not  charity,  I  am  nothing.  And  though  I  bestow 
all  my  goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  though  I  give  my  body  to 
he  burned,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me  nothing. 
Charity  suffereth  long,  and  is  kind  ;  charity  envieth  not  ;  a 
charity  vaunteth  not  itself,  is  not  puffed  up,  doth  not  behave 
itself  unseemly,  seeketh  not  her  own,  is  not  easily  provoked, 
thinketh  no  evil  ;  rejoiceth  not  in  iniquity,  but  rejoiceth  in 
the  truth  ;  beareth  all  things,  believeth  all  things,  hopeth  all 
things,  endureth  all  things.  Charity  never  faileth.” 

Charity  is  the  basis  of  every  virtue,  the  sure  foundation 
of  every  good  principle  in  the  breast  of  man.  It  is  the 
source  from  which  springs  a  modest,  but  not  humiliating 
subserviency  in  subordinate  stations,  and  makes  both  the 
master  and  the  servant  lasting  friends  ;  and  is  especially  val¬ 
uable  in  such  a  place  as  this,  in  which  subserviency  is  indis¬ 
pensably  necessary. 

In  large  manufacturing  towns,  many  more,  in  proportion 
to  the  number  of  inhabitants,  must  fill  subordinate  stations, 
that  is,  must  be  under  the  immediate  direction  and  control 
of  a  master  or  superintendent,  than  in  farming  towns,  where 
every  man  is  lord  over  his  own  cottage  and  soil.  Many  ap¬ 
prehensions  have,  on  that  account,  arisen,  that  it  would  en¬ 
danger  our  liberties  to  become  a  manufacturing  people  \  that 
it  would  lead  directly  to  aristocracy.  But  in  a  country  like 
the  United  States,  in  which  so  great  a  proportion  of  the 
population  are,  and.  must  be  employed  in  agriculture,  there 
will,  undoubtedly,  ever  be  a  preponderance  against  the  prin¬ 
ciple  ;  and  the  thing  will  so  far  regulate  itself,  that  we  are 
not  in  the  least  danger  from  It  ;  especially,  so  long  as  the 
means  of  education  are  furnished  so  liberally  as  they  are  in 
New  England,  generally,  and  in  this  young  manufacturing 
town  particularly.  Ignorance  is  the  foundation  on  which  to 


8 


build  an  arbitrary  government,  and  the  only  foundation  on 
which  it  will  stand.  Let  the  bountiful  means  of  education 
be  continued  ;  let  the  fostering  attention  of  the  experienced, 
the  ingenious  friend*  of  youth,  liberty  and  improvement,  be 
cordially  received  ;  his  kind  attentions,  and  generous  efforts 
meet  a  cheerful  reception,  and  this,  though  a  manufacturing 
town,  will,  we  trust,  satisfactorily  prove  that  a  manufactur¬ 
ing  community  can  be  something  else  than  a  community  of 
slaves.  Cordiality  of  feelings  between  the  employer  and  the 
employed,  between  the  ruler  and  the  ruled,  ought,  as  much 
as  possible,  to  be  cherished,  and  the  idea  of  servitude  done 
away. 

In  every  society  there  is  a  mutual  dependence.  Entire 
independence  is  not  to  be  found,  and  ought  not  to  be  wished 
for.  From  this  mutual  dependence  we  derive  our  greatest 
^  prosperity,  and  our  greatest  enjoyment.  The  rich  are  de^ 
pendent  on  the  poor  for  their  labor  ;  and  the  poor  are  de¬ 
pendent  on  the  rich  for  the  means  of  sustenance.  The  sick 
are  dependent  on  the  physician  for  his  healing  skill  and  med¬ 
icine  ;  and  the  physician  is,  in  his  turn,  dependent  on  his 
patient  for  the  means  of  support;  The  farmer  is  dependent 
on  the  mechanic  and  manufacturer  for  the  utensils  of  hus-> 
bandry,  and  for  clothing  ;  and  they  are  dependent  on  him  for 
their  daily  food.  There  is  no  condition  in  life,  that  is  not 
more  or  less  dependent.  Entire  independence  exists  only  in 
imagination.  And  are  we  the  less  happy  for  that  ?  No  ;  far 
otherwise.  We  are  abundantly  more  happy  for  our  being 
bound  together  by  our  mutual  dependencies.  The  great  cry 
for  independence  and  liberty,  would,  if  indulged  to  an  un¬ 
limited  extent,  prove  far  more  dangerous  to  real  and  true 
liberty,  than  the  effects  produced  by  all  the  manufacturing 
companies  and  mechanic  associations,  that  will  be  raised  in 
the  nation  these  fifty  years. 

A  constant  confinement  to  business,  a  certain  reasonable 
number  of  hours  each  day,  under  wholesome  regulations  and 
restrictions,  is  much  more  conducive  to  the  health  of  the 
body,  the  improvement  of  the  mind,  and  to  the  general  hap¬ 
piness  of  man,  than  a  round  of  loose,  idle  pleasures,  in  the 
company  of  the  thoughtless,  the  gay,  and  the  proflgate.  No 
man  enjoys  more  than  he  that  is  constantly  employed  in 
business,  who  has  few  idle  moments  more  than  are  necessary 
for  cleansing  his  person,  eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping.  And 


*  W.  Colburn. 


9 


do  not  tell  me,  there  are  so  many  perplexities  in  a  busy  life, 
that  you  would  be  glad  to  be  rid  of  it.  The  man  who  is  out 
of  employment,  has  many  more  perplexities,  and  far  worse 
to  bear,  than  those  produced  by  the  imperfections  of  the 
persons,  or  the  implements  we  have  to  deal  with.  The  fault 
is  more  in  the  state  of  the  mind,  than  in  any  external  object. 

The  indulgence  of  a  hypocondriac,  peevish,  fault-finding, 
indolent  disposition,  (could  it  be  admitted  there)  would  raise 
perplexities  in  heaven.  If  we  would  make  ourselves  easy 
and  content  in  our  situations,  look  at  the  best  side  of  every 
thing,  instead  of  the  worst  ;  the  greater  part  of  the  perplex¬ 
ities  incident  ,to  a  busy  life,  would  vanish.  They  are  a  mere 
nothing  in  themselves,  further  than  we  make  them  by  the 
indulgence  of  an  uneasy  disposition. 

Let  those  who  fill  subordinate  stations,  be  in  due  and  6 
quiet  subjection  to  those  who  have  the  charge  over  them  ; 
and  let  those  who  are  placed  to  rule  and  direct,  do  it  with 
prudence  and  discretion ;  not  with  an  overbearing  super¬ 
cilious  air,  but  in  the  manner  that  a  kind,  discreet  father 
would  govern  his  children,  and  then  the  intermixture  of  ranks 
in  society  will  contribute  more  to  its  happiness,  than  a  sep¬ 
aration  possibly  could  do.  The  first  thing  in  every  society 
is  order  ;  without  it  nothing  can  be  done. 

“  Order  is  Heaven’s  first  law  ;  and  this  confest. 

Some  are,  and  must  be,  greater  than  the  rest  ; 

More  rich,  more  wise — but  who  infers  from  hence 
That  such  are  happier,  shocks  all  common  sense. 

Heaven  to  mankind  impartial  we  confess, 

If  all  are  equal  in  their  happiness  ; 

But  mutual  wants  this  happiness  increase  ; 

All  nature’s  difference  keeps  all  nature’s  peace. 

Condition,  circumstance,  is  not  the  thing  ; 

Bliss  is  the  same  in  subject  or  in  king.” 

This  Association  was  formed  for  the  mutual  benefit  of  its 
members  ;  for  the  improvement  of  their  minds,  and  for  the 
good  of  society  generally.  May  we  be  an  example  to  others, 
of  temperance,  frugality,  and  industry  ;  of  a  charitable  dis¬ 
position  towards  others,  and  of  quiet,  peaceable  citizens. 

May  no  disgraceful  action  characterize  any  of  its  members  ; 
and  may  we  aim  at  the  general  good  of  society,  and  our  own 
mutual  improvement.  In  doing  which  I  would  recommend 
that  the  Association  meet  more  frequently  than  we  have 
done  heretofore,  and  statedly  enter  into  the  discussion  of 
some  useful  topic,  that  will  serve  to  improve  the  mind,  make 


us  more  intimately  acquainted  with  each  other,  and  more 
firmly  unite  us  by  the  stronger  bonds  of  interest  and  friend¬ 
ship  . 

Accept  the  grateful  thanks  of  your  friend  and  associate, 
for  the  unmerited  honor  conferred  on  him  ;  and  his  best 
wishes  for  your  future  peace  and  prosperity,  commensurate 
with  the  utmost  wishes  of  every  true  philanthropist. 


